Thorny Flannels

An unidentifiable bird call

A butterfly that’s slightly off-color

An opossum with its head stuck in a yogurt tub

Five minutes later I heard his Code Red Alert Bark and went looking for him, expecting to see something like a deer crossing the road and Pan yelling at him like a school crossing guard, but actually I found a bunch of cows setting up camp in my other pasture, on the other side of the road. Their owner was still there, holding the gate open and letting the last cows in, and when he saw me he claimed that he didn’t know this pasture belonged to someone. I am fairly sure that he just hoped I wouldn’t notice and his cows would get to eat for free for a while, but w/e, I told him this was my land and he rounded up his cows and left. The best thing was how these cow shenanigans clearly made Pandolf feel very useful—usually his alert barks alert me to the threatening presence of, say, a badger, and I’m like “thank you for warning me about this infraction but I will not be pursuing the matter further” and he is disappointed, but this time he could tell that the thing he had warned me about was important indeed and he sat there by the road watching the cows walk away with a look of deep satisfaction, like “That’s right. An actual threat. Thwarted by me, Pandolf.” He is only 6 months-old but he is so invested in his job and it’s really precious.

So far so normal, right? But then:

Like what. And then:

So, I had an interesting conversation about the role of Boromir in a group chat.

The other person I was talking to is totally team Boromir and, if I understood well, thinks that Aragorn didn’t deserve to be king of Gondor because he essentially ignored the city, knowing very well he was going to be king anyway because it’s in his blood.

Now, I totally agree on this vision and I wish Tolkien had written Aragorn a bit differently (I love him anyway as he is, of course). Maybe, if Aragorn had a different storyline Boromir could have lived.

Hear me out, because this is important. Other characters describe Boromir as very fond of Gondor and his people. He could’ve been a perfect king, as he was protective and kind and noble. BUT! He was very proud too. If Boromir had lived it would have come a time when he and Aragorn had to fight over who was to be king (because of course Boromir wasn’t going to give up his city easily, given that he had protected it for ages while Aragorn was out and about).

So, Tolkien wrote Aragorn in a certain way and we can’t change it, so in this universe it was impossible for Boromir to live, because he would have been Aragorn’s opponent when it came to reign on Gondor.

Aragorn has an array of traits that make him the best king for the fourth age. His childhood in Rivendell with his great(63 times) uncle Elrond means that he understands the war of the ring better than anyone, and he knows his destiny. His time with the other Dúnedain as a ranger was not pointless, and Gondor wasn’t ready for his return yet anyway (Elrond seemed to know this).

By saying “king” referring to Boromir of course I meant “steward”, but I should have been more accurate I guess. Tolkien wrote Aragorn storyline in a way that perfectly fit the situation in Middle Earth, mine was just a pure rant on how Boromir as steward of Gondor couldn’t work in the universe Tolkien created. 

I think it should also be mentioned: Faramir did get a title and purpose after Aragorn took the throne, and Boromir undoubtedly would have had been offered the same had he lived. In creating the Princes of Ithilien Aragorn ended the line of stewards of Gondor honorably.

Boromir had a flaw and also had an honorable death. Nothing more canonically can be assumed, except by analysis of his temperament. Because Aragorn became king and Faramirs storyline ‘worked’.

The only argument I can think of that Boromir would not have ‘worked’ is that Gandalf smoothed things over with Faramir in a way he didn’t with Boromir, so Boromir would have responded differently to Aragorn claiming the throne.

So, I had an interesting conversation about the role of Boromir in a group chat.

The other person I was talking to is totally team Boromir and, if I understood well, thinks that Aragorn didn’t deserve to be king of Gondor because he essentially ignored the city, knowing very well he was going to be king anyway because it’s in his blood.

Now, I totally agree on this vision and I wish Tolkien had written Aragorn a bit differently (I love him anyway as he is, of course). Maybe, if Aragorn had a different storyline Boromir could have lived.

Hear me out, because this is important. Other characters describe Boromir as very fond of Gondor and his people. He could’ve been a perfect king, as he was protective and kind and noble. BUT! He was very proud too. If Boromir had lived it would have come a time when he and Aragorn had to fight over who was to be king (because of course Boromir wasn’t going to give up his city easily, given that he had protected it for ages while Aragorn was out and about).

So, Tolkien wrote Aragorn in a certain way and we can’t change it, so in this universe it was impossible for Boromir to live, because he would have been Aragorn’s opponent when it came to reign on Gondor.

Aragorn has an array of traits that make him the best king for the fourth age. His childhood in Rivendell with his great(63 times) uncle Elrond means that he understands the war of the ring better than anyone, and he knows his destiny. His time with the other Dúnedain as a ranger was not pointless, and Gondor wasn’t ready for his return yet anyway (Elrond seemed to know this).

Hope Gangloff

“Spring Still Life”